South Korean Government to Auction Off $518,000 Worth of Bitcoin

The South Korean government is planning to auction 216 bitcoins, worth around $518,000 at the time of reporting, seized during a series of previous investigations into illicit financial activities. The Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO), an asset management arm of the South Korean government which oversees state-owned properties and taxes, announced in a press conference that digital currencies such as bitcoin can be auctioned off by the government because they are not considered as non-auctionable assets by the South Korean law. A statement of a KAMCO representative (translated by CCN) reads:
With the exception of currencies, assets and securities are auctionable by the South Korean government. Although it is the first auction involving a digital currency overseen by the South Korean government, investors and the public can consider bitcoin as an asset that changes in value over time.